No, you’re being scammed when the cashier asks for 8-9% more than the price tag. cough Chicago cough
(not really; I was just shocked at the sales tax there)
If you’re going to be in West Virginia…whatever you do, if you hear banjoes or see an albino kid playing one,** RUN LIKE HELL.**
Seriously? Come to WV in the fall. We have some gorgeous scenery then.
Your brother would do well to re-evaluate that attitude. It’s not at all unlikely that a hurricane could hit the Florida Panhandle. Granted, it’s not as common as one hitting the stretch of the Gulf Coast between say… Corpus Christi to Mobile, but not unlikely nonetheless.
I think I’d warn Europeans that the distances between cities is much larger than what they might be used to; driving between Houston and Dallas is roughly similar to driving between Paris and Amsterdam, and that’s staying about 50 miles north of the Gulf, and 50 miles south of the Oklahoma border. Going between say… Orlando and Washington is like driving from Paris to about 50 miles beyond Vienna.
I’d also caution them about the heat/cold, depending on the region involved. I get the impression that Minnesota-style cold is unusual, as is Texas/Louisiana style heat & humidity.
Ok to clarify, this is much more of a hazard in *suburban *areas in much of the US I’ve visited. In Ireland you’ll see deer in rural areas or in Dublin in the Phoenix Park, a huge park that at night is hazardous to drive through.
The cold, certainly. The heat, not so much, not when you include holidays to Greece, Turkey and the like - the problem is that people tend to not anticipate it in the way they do when heading to the Med.
Around these parts, they’re a hazard too, we call 'em chuggers, charity muggers.
I’m sure DC is quite a bit worse then were I lived, but when people would ask if I lived in a safe neighborhood, I would tell them yes. I was more or less comfortable walking to the Open Pantry two blocks away. Walking to downtown about 6 blocks a way etc… But go one block West and the area got real crappy real fast.
“He’s got a real purdy mouf”
Just because things are only [-------------------] far apart on a map, this does not mean you can drive there in no time. America is BIG. LA and San Francisco are over 300 miles apart. Further if you go the coast route.
Traffic can be daunting. Ask a local how long it takes to get somewhere.
If visiting in the warm months, you can be in danger of heat stroke, or heat exhaustion. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
If someone invites you to go on a snipe hunt don’t. They are pulling your leg.
However if you are in California and are invited on a grunion hunt, go. They aren’t pulling your leg.
…due to all the priests and rent boys wandering around.
as well as the politicians.
What’s a ‘rent boy’? That’s the second time I’ve seen that term. I’m guessing, ‘a young man of negotiable affection’?
In New Orleans, if someone bets you that they know where you got your shoes - don’t bet them. (They’ll be right - you got them on your feet).
In Arizona and the deserts of California, always carry extra water if you are going on a desert tour by yourself.
And the American Ambassador, (who has their official residence in the park)
Speaking of alcohol. Be prepared to be asked to submit photo ID when attempting to buy alcohol or tobacco products no matter how old you are. While the drinking age is 21 in every state most establishments card everyone who looks under 27-40 just to be safe. Some card everybody as a matter of policy (penalties for underage sale are high). Oh and outside tourist areas you might run into trouble getting the server to accept your ID since it’s foreign. Your passport is the safest bet, but even that might not be accepted.
Bingo.
Same for folks in gas stations who just need a little gas money to get home. They have gas. They’re pretty much home. What they’re looking for is booze/drugs money.
This is true even if they are standing near a car with a tank that shows empty or, in the case above, showing you their driver’s license to ‘prove’ they live out of town.
I’m waiting for the moment that happens, because I always carry my passport for such encounters, and would like to know what would trump it,
If you’re a non-North-American native English speaker, people won’t necessarily be able to understand what you’re saying. Especially away from the coasts and the big cities. That surprised me. I thought they all loved Hugh Grant!
I also had trouble buying booze in Texas. I showed them my British passport, expecting it to suffice, and they were bemused. I’m not sure that they really understood what it was. But they let me buy the beer, in the end.
Best advice from my Dad before my first US trip: “Slow down your speech a bit and avoid contractions”. (Kiwis tend to speak fast).
Oh, and the tipping advice. Which was “15% with tablecloths, 10% without”. (Dad’s US experience was 30 years old). Tipping for haircuts came as a surprise.
I’d agree with the tax warning: prices charged will be weirdly different to the sticker price. Smile and nod. No, they don’t know why they do this either.
And geography: everything is far away. When an American says it’s “10 minutes up the road” they do not mean walking. Cruise control is good – but you risk falling asleep between Davenport and Des Moines. 